Somehow I Got Wrapped Up In This Apocalypse With You
by Maria Whitman-Menzel-Malfoy
Summary: Ginny/Dawn. Ginny comes to Sunnydale to help an old friend with an apocalypse. Season 7 compliant, not epilogue compliant.
1. Chapter 1

Somehow I Got Wrapped Up In This Apocalypse With You

Ginny/Dawn Crossover

Rating: T for now

Summary: Ginny comes to Sunnydale to help an old friend with an apocalypse. Simple enough, right?

AN: I haven't posted on this site in so long, I don't even remember how to do this XD Bear with me!

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Chapter 1 -

A loud crack emanated from a dark alley somewhere near an abandoned car dealership. No one, save a stray black cat, was around to hear it. The crack echoed, and for a moment nothing stirred.

Suddenly, a woman emerged from the once deserted back street and looked around expectantly. Out of her strange, hooded, dark purple robes she wore, she produced what looked like a pointed stick. With a few murmured words and a wave of her hand a dim, blue light poured out of the stick she held and landed in a ball on the ground. She called out a specific name, and the light began to move, as if being pulled by an invisible string. The woman followed the light and passed by a once-standing sign that read "Welcome to Sunnydale! Enjoy your stay!" She paid it no mind and continued to follow her light. It was nearing midnight and the streets were completely deserted.

The light led her through the small town to a suburban street with very little light or noise. One of the houses had a porch light left on (the only one on the block), and the woman headed towards it. She reached a small, cement path that led to a few steps and a rather impressive front door. The light on the ground went out - this was the place.

After a few deep breaths, she walked straight up to the door and knocked smartly three times. As an afterthought, she pocketed her stick. The door opened to a cheerfully lit entryway. In the background she could hear multiple voices talking over one another. The person who had opened the door was a teenage girl with long, brown hair and a sarcastically apprehensive expression on her face.

"Can I help you?" the girl asked, annoyed.

The woman took the hood of her robe off, revealing her shocking red hair, and met the girl's eyes. They were a striking shade of green-blue and practically charged with electricity.

"My name is Ginny Weasley. I'm looking for - ?"

"Ginny? Is that you?" A red-headed woman came out from behind the door.

"Hello, Willow. It's great to see you again," Ginny said warmly.

"Please, come inside!" Willow said, grabbing the redhead and dragging her in by her hand. They embraced briefly and soon had the attention of not only the brunette, but a whole score of people. Some stood on the stairs, a few stayed seated in the living room, but most had surrounded Ginny in an almost threatening manner.

"Everyone, this is Ginny Weasley. I met her in London when I was studying with Giles. Ginny, this is everyone. You kinda took me by surprise, we actually just got a few new housemates today." Willow babbled, waving her hand around to everyone.

"I know I should have, er, rang? But I still don't know how to use the bloody things. And I assumed you would shoo my owl if it landed on your window," she explained. She was met with confused silence and a nervous laugh from Willow.

Ginny shifted uncomfortably for a second, suddenly feeling very young and stupid. It wasn't quite the way she had intended to show up, what with time zone differences, and it seemed as if everyone was tense enough as it was without a random girl who only Willow knows showing up with seemingly no explanation. A blonde woman who had been mostly silent since she had gotten there took a step forward.

"Nice to meet you, Ginny. I'm Buffy. Any friend of Willow's is... generally a friend of mine." And with that confusing and foreboding introduction, Buffy led Ginny into the kitchen under the guise of fetching some tea. Ginny sat on a stool by the counter and waited.

"Sorry if this comes across as rude, but if you came here for a visit it's not really the best time for catch-up." Buffy said as she handed Ginny a flowery coffee mug of tea.

"I know. I actually came here to help. Willow and I got to be fairly close while she was in London. I've heard a lot about you and Xander and everyone else, actually. Anyway, I used to have a few contacts here in America, but when things got quiet - I mean dead quiet - I figured things had taken a turn for the worst." Here she paused to take a sip of her tea which was, she supposed, as good as it was going to get.

"I understand if you don't want my help. Looks like you've got enough as it is. But I was born and raised in war. I fought alongside some of the best witches and wizards against the worst of the worst. I don't know much about Muggle life, or this sort of supernatural warfare, but I want to help."

Buffy was silent for a moment, staring at Ginny over the top of her mug. Her eyes darted to the hallway and there was a flurry of movement as everyone attempted to look innocent, as if they hadn't been listening. She set down her cup and crossed her arms, taking a very distrustful pose.

"Do you know anything about vampires?"

Ginny bit her lip. She really didn't. Aside from what she had read in books and scrolls, she had briefly spotted a vampire at a Christmas party she had attended once. Willow had also told her about Buffy being a vampire slayer, the chosen one, and had described vampires to her. She had always assumed that some vampires were allowed in polite company and some were seen, on a political standpoint, as half-bloods and were not to be trusted. But she could see where Buffy was going with this. She was completely out of her element. This was not a fight between humans who believed different things, this was a fight between good and evil. Real evil.

"No," she said simply. It was much easier than trying to explain her jaded view.

Buffy paused and was silent some more. Ginny squirmed in her seat, feeling again like a child in the headmaster's office. She could feel, rather than hear, the collective whispers from the eavesdroppers in the hall. The seconds seemed like hours, and Ginny's heart began to sink. She had only come to help a friend in need - it's what she had been taught to do. And now she was going to be turned away before she was even given a chance.

"Then we had better start training you. You'll start with the other potentials as soon as we crack the code on this whole Spike business. I'm sure you'll have a bit more knowledge or access to knowledge that would help. I'm sure Willow and Dawn will be thrilled. Welcome to Fort Hellmouth," she said, smiling in a sardonic sort of way.

Before Ginny could process the words, she was again surrounded by strangers. This time, however, they smiled and introduced themselves in a rush. Ginny could barely keep up.

"Hey, I'm Xander. Most people call me Z-man."

"No one calls you that. And don't even think about it."

"Hi, I'm Anya. So you're British? If we keep collecting your type around here, people are going to forget where we are."

"Thank you, Anya. Delightful as always. My name is Rupert Giles."

"My name's Kennedy. I'm new here too. So we have that in common."

"Molly."

"Annabelle."

"Hey. I'm Dawn." It was the brunette speaking to her now. She had chosen to wait for everyone to disperse before introducing herself. Ginny smiled at the girl, then looked around inquisitively.

"Where did everyone go?"

"Well, I think Buffy and Giles went to go search for a cave. The new girls are trying to figure out sleeping arrangements with Willow. And I'll bet Anya is torturing Andrew with Xander upstairs."

At this last comment, Ginny raised a single eyebrow. Dawn rolled her eyes and waved her hand flippantly.

"It's kind of a long story. Actually, it's not. I'm just tired. And now I have a house full of hungry girls. Plus one Xander, which counts as about 20 people. Would you mind helping me make dinner?" Dawn pleaded.

Ginny glanced at the bags under Dawn's eyes and nodded. She didn't think she would be getting much sleep anyway since it was only 9 a.m. in London. Converting to this timezone was going to take a while.

Dawn brightened at her nod of agreement and headed for the cupboards. It seemed to Ginny as if, with all this hustle and bustle, Dawn seemed to be left out a lot. Which Ginny completely understood.

The redhead looked around for a moment, then grinned fervently. She whipped out the stick out of her robes and motioned it in the direction of the cupboards. The doors opened smoothly and ingredients began flying out and landing on the counter smartly. Dawn turned and, with a short yelp, stared in shock as previously inanimate object began moving of their own accord. Soon, Ginny had gathered enough ingredients to make a simple Shepherd's Pie. Dawn was still gaping at her and the instrument in her hand.

"Is that - you use a wand?" Dawn asked incredulously, as if she couldn't believe her own eyes.

The sound of Dawn's shout had caused the entire household to clamour into the kitchen with some, namely Xander, carrying weapons. Now everyone was looking at Ginny and her wand. Before she could think of why this would be strange to them and how she could explain herself, Willow stepped out from behind the crowd.

"It's a different sort of magic system they use in Europe. Well, actually, everywhere else. It's almost like the metric system versus the U.S.'s standard system," She said and Ginny nodded.

"I use my wand for everything from simple magic to complicated spells and enchantments."

"Like turning the kitchen into a tornado?" Dawn mumbled.

"Actually, that was mostly simple magic. Just an adaptation of Accio and Wingardium Levi..." Ginny quickly realized she had completely lost her audience. Some began to edge towards the doors, while the others just looked at her with blank faces.

"Sorry, they're not really ones for the magicky talk." Willow smiled apologetically and everyone made an awkward exit again.

Ginny let out a sigh and rumbled her lips. Dawn was in the same position, staring at Ginny with a mix of shock and curiosity on her face. She looked quite like a cat and it made Ginny giggle.

"You should probably warn a person before you do stuff like that," the brunette mumbled. But she kept her eyes on Ginny's wand.

"Sorry, I'm really not used to Muggle dynamics yet. I just assumed that everyone would be used to being around magic, seeing as Willow is a witch."

"Yes, she is a witch. But she also showed us all how incredibly dangerous it is."

"Are you afraid of me?" Ginny asked. Dawn looked down at her feet and didn't reply. The redhead sighed again and mentally kicked herself. There was so much she didn't know about this world. In only a few hours of being here she had already made everyone wary.

"If we manage to live through all of this, hopefully I can show you how wonderful magic is and erase your fear. Now how about we finish making supper?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Ginny/Dawn set in season 7 of BtVS  
Disclaimer: I own neither Buffy nor Harry Potter and would never make such ridiculous claims  
AN: Here is chapter 2! Pretty happy with what I have so far. Hopefully the next chapter will be A) Longer and B) more touchy-feely. I also have to write and action scene. Yikes...

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The next morning, everyone was in a flurry of activity. The Slayer had returned to the house in the early morning before Ginny had even thought of waking up. Willow explained that her and Giles had gone out the night before to search for something and had run into an -

"Ubervamp?" Ginny asked, almost laughing. Everyone's faces were grave and she quelled her giddiness at the ridiculous name.

"It is a vampire feared above all other vampires. Even vamps and demons are afraid of them," they explained.

"We'll need to gather as much information as we can of them," Willow added.

The next few hours were quite mundane and Ginny almost forget about the apocalypse. She spent most of her time going over books with Willow and Dawn, pausing every now and then to ask questions.

"So, where is Buffy now?"

"At work."

"She has time for a job with all of this going on?"

"She works at the school. That's where the seal is so it's good that she's there. Just in case."

"And what's going to happen tonight when the sun goes down?"

"Well, hopefully we can figure that out."

Ginny's eyes began to glaze over with every volume she flipped through. They were no closer now than they were 4 hours prior to finding out any more about "Ubervamps". She sighed and leaned back in her chair. She needed a break.

"I'll be right back," she said and wandered away towards the bathroom.

On her way, she passed by a bedroom and had to double-back to affirm what she had thought she had seen. A boy with blonde hair was tied to a chair with a gag in his mouth. She looked around carefully and came towards him. He seemed very pleased to see her and showed this by mumbling and thrashing about. The redhead pulled her wand out of her pocket and his eyes widened in alarm.

She aimed it towards the gag in his mouth and whispered "Diffindo!"

The gag was cut in a neat line and fell away from his mouth.

"Oh my gosh you scared me. I thought they had sent you to kill me. Hey, is that a wand?"

"Who are you? Why are you all tied up?"

"Andrew. I'm a super villain who is seriously considering joining the good guys," he said puffing out his chest (as much as he could). She nodded. Obviously.

"Seriously, is that a wand?" His voice held the glee of a child seeing its first Christmas stocking. She glanced down at it and considered lying. Unfortunately, she had already exposed its power.

"Yes. But I'm not going to give it to you. Especially if you're a villain."

"Super villain, thank you. And I know that, I just wanted to know if it was real. You must be a witch, then. But not like Willow. More like the White Witch. You don't turn people into stone, do you?"

Ginny laughed. She couldn't help it. She decided right then and there that this boy was neither super nor a villain in any way. Loathe though she was to judge a person's evil or good intent by a snippet of conversation, she just couldn't possibly take him seriously. Turning people into stone, indeed. What am I, a snake?

"Willow and I are different in more aspects than just magical methods. Anyway, I really ought to be getting back. Loads of research you know. Repairo!" She exclaimed, and the gag returned to normal and fixed itself back onto his mouth.

The gag muffled a few screams and, she was sure, curses directed at her but she paid Andrew no mind. Whatever their reasons for keeping him, she wouldn't dare overstep her boundaries to tell them to let him go. She made her way back to the dining room and found Willow alone, flipping pages frantically and chewing on a strand of her hair.

"Find something?" Ginny asked. Willow jumped slightly and shook her head.

"No, I was just flipping pages. Angrily. And hopelessly." The frustrated redhead slammed her face onto the book. Ginny heard a soft "Ow".

Ginny paced for a moment. There had to be someone or some kind of information somewhere about the Ubervamps. Suddenly, a thought struck her.

"Do you have a fireplace?"

Once everything was assembled, Ginny took a pinch from her emergency stash of Floo Powder and threw it into the flames that were quickly rising. The potentials, Willow, Dawn, and Xander had gathered around her to watch.

"Ministry Of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt!" She said clearly, and the flames turned green. She lowered her head to put it through the fire and at least three hands reached forward to stop her.

"What are you doing?"

"Are you crazy?"

"That's called fire. Fire bad."

"I'm alright, really. I know what I'm doing." She realizes in retrospect she should have emphasised on the head in the fire business. Hesitantly, the hands disappeared off of her and she leaned forward to look into the fire.

On the other side, she saw a grand office with lovely darkwood furniture, tasteful art, and dark green curtains over a huge window. She missed it already and almost wished she had never left London.

"Kingsley, are you there?" She called out before she got too wrapped up in memories. A figure stirred on the large, leather chair behind a desk. The figure stood and and made its way to the fireplace.

"Ginny, do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Yes, and I'm pretty sure even the Ministry of Magic is closed by now. And yet, here you are. Right where I thought you'd be."

He rubbed his eyes and chuckled.

"You got me. What do you need?"

She quickly told him about the "Ubervamps", the Slayer, and the apocalypse. She asked if he had any information about them or if he could find any for her.

"I can't say I know anything about them, But I could probably whip up some information for you."

"Thank you, Kingsley. You're a lifesaver."

"I know. And you should probably get into the habit of calling me Mr. Shacklebolt. Everyone is starting to ask questions."

She laughed and gave him a wink.

"I can imagine the rumors. I'd just rather not. You know, if you had just agreed to make that press release it would have been so much simpler."

"I'd rather people think I'm secretly shagging the ex-Mrs. Potter than for the entire wizarding world to know I'm a..."

"Shirt-lifter?" She provided. Kingsley averted his eyes and smiled slightly. When he turned back, he was more serious.

"Get out of this fireplace, missy, and get back to work. I will try and find out anything I can about these... "Ubervamps"? Wait for my Floo."

Ginny pulled her head out of the fire and brushed off the soot. She turned around to find everyone waiting with baited breath.

"He said he didn't know anything off the top of his head, but he would find out what he could and get back to me. It shouldn't take very long," she assured them.

But she could tell they were disappointed. She couldn't blame them. She had swooped in out of nowhere, expecting to be a huge asset, and all she had done so far is scare them and bore them. As everyone stood to leave, she drew her gaze back to the fire to wait. Sometimes Dawn sat with her, and sometimes it was Willow. It was getting late and the fire continued to burn orange.

Buffy returned home with no more news than themselves and ordered everyone to grab weapons. A voice from upstairs called for the Slayer, leaving the rest of them to wait downstairs. Ginny stood and pulled her wand from her pocket. At least she could be somewhat useful. The sun began to set, and everyone was nervous. They stood together in a group in the living room, anxiously clutching scythes and swords, crossbows and stakes.

"Is everyone ready?"

"No. We don't even know how to kill these, if they can even be killed..."

"Come on, gang. Positive thinking."

"Xander, this isn't one of those stupid 'mug half empty' things."

"I believe the term is 'glass half full', Anya, and yes technically this is one of those times."

"Oh, go clean your glasses or something."

"Uh, Ginny? I think your friend is calling you." It was Dawn, pointing to the now green fire. The sun was completely gone now and everyone was listening for the sound of running feet or claws. Ginny hurried to the fire. It was Kingsley. She stuck her head inside the green flames.

Finally, they heard a bang! on the door.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"What have you got for me, Kings?" She asked quickly. She could hear bangs behind her in the room.

"Very little. All I've been able to find out is that they are extraordinarily strong, and resist the traditional stake-in-the-heart death. You'll need to decapitate them in order to vanquish them."

Three more heavy bangs sounded behind her. She could feel the nervous energy like a blanket around her.

"Thank you so much Kingsley. That helped a lot!" And she was gone before he could say "Quidditch".

She backed out of the fireplace and stood next to Buffy, in front of Ginny.

"He says you'll need to decapitate to kill." She muttered. Buffy made sure everyone knew the game.

In the next second, the door burst open and nearly snapped in half, revealing the Ubervamp on the other side. He stood mostly hunched, with bared teeth and a glint in his eye, quickly calculating who of this group is the weakest and the easiest to feed from. Ginny quickly sent a shouted "Stupefy" at the creature.

It did more harm than good, however, as the vampire smiled (she thinks) at the attempt and began to lunch for the redhead. Buffy took a step forward and landed a kick in the middle of its chest, sending him stumbling back for a moment. It quickly seemed to realize that this was no simple group of blood-filled sacs content on letting it overrun them.

One of the potentials shot out from behind the splintered door, slashing it's back with a rather large broadsword. Ginny shot more powerful spells at the thing, anything she could think of. Most bounced off except for a few red hot and electric purple curses she had learned very recently. The rest of the group danced around her spellwork, eager to take a hit at the now almost powerless Ubervampire. It spun around and around, trying to find an escape or a weakness. It lashed out at random, desperate to lay a scratch or a bite on anyone.

Buffy signaled everyone to back away, holding an impressive hand-axe and watching the vamp very closely.

"Enough playtime, girls. Time to say goodbye to the very good training toy. Its been great, really." She said conversationally to a very confused vampire. She raised her axe above her head, ready to finish the job.

In a split second, before the axe came down, the vampire made one last ditch effort by grabbing the closest person to him and dragging them to his teeth. Buffy hesitated, unable to gauge a safe way to kill the demon and not slice her younger sister in half. Dawn opened her mouth and closed her eyes to scream. Everyone was frozen in shock.

"Avada Kedavra!" A very commanding and controlled cry came from the witch. Her aim was true - the vampire was hit square between the eyes. She knew it wouldn't be enough to kill him, but she prayed it would at least stall him enough to get Dawn out of its grasp. The vampire stepped backwards and fell onto its back. Unconscious. Ginny reached out to take Dawn's hand and pull her back away from the now prone Ubervamp. Buffy fell out of her reverie and brought her axe down on the creature's neck. As everyone watched it turn to dust in silence, Ginny turned to the brunette and touched her face.

"Are you alright? He didn't nick you did he?" She grabbed her chin and examined the girl's neck. Dawn shook her head and stared out at something past Ginny's head. There was a flurry of commotion as Buffy, Xander, Anya, Giles, and Willow swarmed the shocked girl and led her away. Ginny stood for a few more moments, not sure of how to proceed.

The potentials stood next to the pile of dust on the floor.

"That was wicked," Kennedy said reverently.

"We actually helped kill a vampire."

"An Ubervampire."

They gaped, in awe of their accomplishment.

Ginny turned slowly and began to walk to the kitchen. The only person there was Buffy. She was leaning against the counter, staring at the island in the middle of the kitchen. Her head snapped up at Ginny entered the room and the redhead was surprised at the well of tears in the slayer's eyes.

"Are you alright?" she asked anxiously. The only reason she believed Buffy would be crying is if Dawn -

"I'm fine. Dawn is fine," she assured, as if reading the witch's thoughts, "All thanks to you. I don't know what happened, my mind just blanked and I couldn't..." her voice trailed off and when she looked back at Ginny, a smile had replaced the tears.

"I can't thank you enough. You acted instead of thinking, and it saved Dawn's life."

Ginny didn't really feel like mentioning that she had been thinking and acting simultaneously - the war had taught her that much at least.

"No thanks, please. Dawn is important to all of us. I wouldn't think twice about helping her." The words fell easily from her lips, as though she was talking about someone she had known for years.

Buffy nodded, completely understanding the dynamics of things left unsaid. She pushed away from the counter and grabbed a broom from beside the fridge.

"My least favorite thing about killing vamps in the house is the mess they leave behind," she said as she walked away. The corners of Ginny's mouth turned upward and she suppressed a giggle.

Buffy then called everyone to the living room, after the Turok-Han's remains had been properly exposed of in the neighbor's trash can.

"Great job everyone. We did an amazing thing tonight. And I think it will go a long way to show you just how strong you could possibly be. Now, we've got another potential coming in tomorrow night and there will most likely be Bringers waiting for her, so I want everyone to stay here." There was a collective cry of protest from the whole room.

"Buffy, I'm not letting you go there alone."

"We just kicked an Ubervamps ass. I say we kick it up a notch and take out some of these Bringers."

"C'mon Buff. Like we're going to let you go by yourself."

"I don't care what any of you say. That's my decision and you would do well to follow it." Silence clouded the room as everyone awkwardly examined their shoes or pant legs.

"Good. Now, I know there's been a lot of excitement tonight, but try to get some sleep. We've got a lot of work to do tomorrow." With that closing remark, Buffy exited the room.

It wasn't until they heard her door close that everyone leaned in to talk in hushed voices.

"She's insane."

"We'll have to try to convince her to at least take someone with her!"

"Maybe one of us should just tail her?"

"I think she would notice one of us following her."

"Buffy said she didn't want anyone to go with her in order to keep you all safe. And as flattering, I'm sure, as it would be for her to hear that you all don't trust the Slayer to walk a few blocks by herself, I would keep plans and schemes to a minimum. She basically gave us a direct order, and if we expect her to lead us, we can't go against her orders." Dawn said from her forgotten place on the couch. She stood to face everyone.

"She's been doing this longer than any of you have known that vampires are real, so I'm pretty sure she can pick up someone from the bus station and make it back alive. I know the town is going downhill, what with hellmouths and all, but geez. Giver her some credit."

And with that, she left, taking the stairs to her bedroom. Everyone sat in chagrined silence as her billowy hair snapped around the corner. Ginny stood and yawned, trying her best to shoo the awkwardness out of the room.

"Alright, everyone. You heard the girl - we've got a big day tomorrow. Let's see about some shut eye."

The crowd dispersed to their respective rooms. Ginny decided to sleep on the couch tonight in order to be close to the door. She set a few mild wards around her and tried to find a comfortable position for sleep.

She teetered for a long time on the edge of consciousness before finally succumbing to the wave of darkness in her mind.

_Smoke from the mouths of dragons._

_Red eyes glinting from the moonlight._

_Long, brown hair._

_A whisper._

_A soft smile._

_A well with black water._

_A teasing laugh._

_Falling..._

_Into the well..._

The next morning, Ginny woke before dawn. She could remember flashes of images from her dreams, but not enough to connect them. She went to the kitchen to fetch herself some tea. But someone was already there.

"The early bird gets the worm," Ginny said softly so as not to startle the girl.

Dawn turned and smirked at the witch.

"The early girl gets the bathroom first."

Ginny set to making tea and the two girls lapsed into a comfortable lull. Dawn was eating cereal and swinging her legs under her chair, looking thoughtful.

"By the way, I never got the chance to thank you for last night. I was kind of in shock I guess. But anyways, thanks."

Ginny stared into the girl's eyes. She wanted to tell her "Don't worry about it!" or "It was no big deal. Don't mention it." But she couldn't bring herself to say it. Something about those eyes looking into her own. Something about those pursed lips. Something about the calculating expression and the confidence held evident in the way she squared her shoulders...

"You're welcome" she breathed. Dawn flashed her a smile. She quickly returned to busying herself in the kitchen.

_Ok, Gin. There's no way you're going to start falling for the Slayer's younger sister._

She cast a sideways glance at the girl and watched in rapt attention as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, some of it refusing to be held back and falling back into her face. Ginny turned back slowly, very aware of loud and fast her heart seemed to be beating.

_This can't be good._


End file.
